Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » The Arbors All Stars: Pizzarelli Party

332

The Arbors All Stars: Pizzarelli Party

By

View read count
The Arbors All Stars: Pizzarelli Party
In his notes for this celebration of jazz and mostly fellow family musicians, John Pizzarelli observes, "Everyone in this group has had a moment where they knew what they wanted to do and how and what they wanted to play." High spirits are evident throughout this romp, mostly recorded in a take or two, without charts for the standards, lending an infectious air of spontaneity to the proceedings. In that style, Pizzarelli and wife Jessica Molaskey open the proceedings winningly with their own tune, "We Take On The Town." On the same song Pizzarelli and his iconic dad Bucky take off together with a dazzling guitar duet.

There's a distinct change of pace with a wistful, heart-tugging version of "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" by Molaskey. Hers is a tender flower on the fire escape singing that Depression Era gem, ably abetted by Aaron Weinstein's violin. A similar warm spirit continues with the classic "Sweet and Lovely" and those qualities are exactly what radiate from Weinstein, Bucky's acoustic rhythm guitar, John's electric and Larry Fuller on piano.

A wry and nearly forgotten Harold Arlen-Ira Gershwin gem, "I Knew Him When," is rediscovered through a vocal duet between Molaskey and Rebecca Kilgore. Drummer Tony Tedesco's brushes and Fuller's keyboard provide perfect accompaniment to the gals' easy sounds. Whatever they play, it's about getting together to make a joyful noise.

Track Listing

We Take On the Town; Strollin' Over to Nola (Gonna Play Some Blues); Oh, Lady Be Good!; Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams; Sweet and Lovely; Joe and Zoot!; I'm Making Believe; You Be The Judge; Somebody Call Hanly!; Under a Blanket of Blue; Check Out This Out; I Knew Him When; I'll See You in My Dreams.

Personnel

Larry Fuller: piano; Martin Pizzarelli: bass; Bucky Pizzarelli: acoustic rhythm guitar; Tony Tedesco: drums; Aaron Weinstein: violin; Harry Allen: tenor saxophone; Rebecca Kilgore: vocals; Jessica Molaskey: vocals; John Pizzarelli: electric guitar, vocals.

Album information

Title: Pizzarelli Party | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Arbors Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.